Bryan Perez and Miguel Rodriguez.

Kangaroos pummel Mastodons, 4-0

By: David Cordill

Posted: 9/29/08

Eight games into its 2008 season, the UMKC men's soccer team finally got to play a match at home. And they made sure they did not disappoint a modest, but faithful, gathering of supporters Saturday afternoon at sunny Bourke Field.

The Kangaroos opened their Summit League conference schedule by burying the Mastodons of University of Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne (IPFW) 4-0.

The win marked the largest margin of victory for the Kangaroos since 2004, when they blanked Centenary University by an identical 4-0 scoresheet.

The sluggish Mastodons were no match for a UMKC team on the rebound. Coming off of two bitter defeats to Gonzaga and Oregon State last week, the ill-humored Roos made it very clear which squad was superior on the day.

Offensively, the Kangaroos (3-3-2; 1-0 Summit League) kept the Mastodons on their collective heels by maintaining ball possession and directing effective ball feeds through the midfielders and behind the defenders.

On defense, UMKC appeared focused and they finished the match unscathed.

That says a lot for a team that was burned for eight goals over their previous two outings.

Their cohesiveness was explained by UMKC sophomore defender Chris Markey, who played the full 90 for the Roos.

Markey said his team stayed organized defensively by talking to each other on the field and "keeping everyone accounted for."

"We've been letting too many goals in lately," he said. "This shutout is big. After that 5-1 loss [Sept. 21 to Oregon State], it's great to come out and dominate a team."

Impressed with the Kangaroo's complete effort, Head Coach Rick Benben was hesitant to single out any individual performance, but stressed the united effort instead.

"These conference games are like two games in one," Benben said. "There is a lot of pressure. We had a great team concept going in both directions. I think our overall play was excellent. I couldn't be more pleased."

Neither squad mounted a serious threat early on, although UMKC definitely controlled the tempo.

The Roos were able to open up a clear advantage in the 27th minute, after senior forward Brian Harris was tackled in the penalty area by IPFW sophomore defender Raphael Martinez.

The foul set up a penalty kick, taken by UMKC sophomore midfielder John Bayron Sosa. The St. Cloud, Fla. native took something off his effort at the Mastodon net and pooched a soft, low-liner past the outwitted IPFW netminder, Michael Knitter.

IFPW tried to equalize in the 32nd minute but Kangaroo senior goalkeeper Ken Cooper, on his way to his second clean sheet of the month, dove to his right and snatched away a shot to the near post.

After the break, both the Roos and Mastodons seemed to be a step or two off their game as the afternoon heat began to take its toll on the players. But UMKC escaped the doldrums in the 69th minute. Junior forward Levi Coleman sent a low drive across the box for a sliding Harris who deftly punched in his team-leading fifth goal of the season.

"I was in the right place at the right time," said Harris on his strike. "It was a great ball - right into my feet and I just slid into it."

Less than a minute later, the Kangaroos made it 3-0 when freshman midfielder Sean Butler went for the far post from 18 yards out. It was his first career goal at UMKC. Junior midfielder Bryan Perez and Harris were both credited with the assist.

Senior midfielder Garret Guthrie capped the scoring on the afternoon at the 78:45 mark with a near-post shot muffed by the Mastodon goalkeeper. Levi Coleman got his second assist on the goal, which was Guthrie's third of the year.

IPFW finished with only two shots on goal; both were recorded saves by UMKC's Cooper. The Kangaroos totaled six shots on goal for the match.

UMKC resumes its schedule this Tuesday night at Bourke Field with a game against Drake University. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

dcordill@unews.com